Detention: In May 2018, 16-year-old Abduraman Abdulveliyev was detained by police in the occupied Crimea, in the village of Kurske, Bilohirsk district, on suspicion of removing three Russian flags from the buildings of the village council, local club, and school memorial.

Sentence: On April 4, 2019, Judge Oleksandr Oleynikov of the Bilohirsk district magistrate's court sentenced him to six months of restricted freedom under Article 329 of the Russian Criminal Code ('Desecration of the State Emblem of the Russian Federation or the State Flag of the Russian Federation'). During this period, Abduraman was required to remain within his village and notify authorities in advance of any departure. After serving the sentence, he was released.

Abduraman Abdulveliyev is a Crimean Tatar teenager from the village of Kurske, Bilohirsk district of occupied Crimea, who became the youngest person involved in a case concerning the removal of Russian flags.

In late May 2018, three Russian flags disappeared in the village of Kurske: from the village council, local club, and the 'Memorial to Fellow Villagers - Participants of WWII' near the school. A group of teenagers fell under suspicion, but charges were only brought against Abduraman, who was given the status of a suspect, while the other boys became witnesses for the prosecution.

During the first interrogation at the Bilohirsk police department, where Abduraman's mother, Olena Abdulveliyeva, was present, the authorities exerted psychological pressure on the minor. According to his mother, they were threatened that if Abduraman did not confess, he would be 'locked up' for a day and subjected to illegal methods of pressure. Abduraman did not deny removing the flags but stated that he did not burn them or throw them into a public toilet, as indicated in the case materials.

The family also reported an illegal search conducted at their home on July 28, 2018. During the search, ammunition and a substance resembling drugs were 'found' in a dilapidated garage. Father Umer Abdulveliyev believes the items were planted by the authorities as revenge for a conflict with illegal loggers he tried to stop several months earlier.

Before the incident, Abduraman studied at a Crimean Tatar school in Sudak, where he transferred on his own initiative to study his native language at a higher level. He is a multiple winner of regional and historical competitions. The case against the minor attracted attention from human rights activists as an example of the persecution of Crimean Tatar youth for expressing pro-Ukrainian positions in occupied Crimea.

Information used from open sources: Radio Liberty (Crimea.Realities).

Update date: 03.07.2026.